Patriots Journal: Gostkowski sticking with what’s worked

FOXBORO — Stephen Gostkowski is not changing anything. If anything, he is working even harder than usual to get out of his slump.

PAUL KENYON

FOXBORO — Stephen Gostkowski is not changing anything. If anything, he is working even harder than usual to get out of his slump.

The Patriots’ kicker missed two field-goal attempts in Buffalo and earlier missed a potential game-winner against Arizona. He is preparing for the Denver game on Sunday the same way he usually does.

“I take the same approach every week, whether it’s good or bad,” he said. “You can get too high on yourself when you do well and you can get too low on yourself when you go bad. I just try to stay even; just go back to work and focus a little harder.

“It’s not that I’m not kicking enough. I’m kicking plenty,” he said. “It’s not that I’m not practicing. I’ve been practicing very good. It’s just a matter of execution. I just have to do a better job of executing. I’ve been here before. I’ve missed two kicks in a row maybe twice in my career, but it has happened.

“There’s no reason,” he added, “why I can’t run off 10, 15 in a row. It’s a matter of focus, hard work and execution. That’s what I’m trying to do. I try to take the positives out of what’s happening. The kicks I did miss weren’t by much. My leg strength feels great. I’m crushing the ball on kickoffs. I’ve just got to pay a little more attention to detail.

“Things will work out. I’ve been working hard. I wouldn’t change any way that I prepare,” he said. “If I wasn’t working hard and I wasn’t giving it my all and I hadn’t had success before, maybe I could look back and say I wish I’d have done something different. But that’s not the case. I feel good with the way I came into the season. I’m just going to keep the same approach and keep kicking. That’s all I can do.”

Prater honored

Denver kicker Matt Prater will enter Sunday’s game on the opposite extreme. He was named the AFC Special Teams Player-of-the-Week for his work in Sunday’s 37-6 victory over Oakland,

Prater was 3-for-3 on field goals. But what won him the award was his work on kickoffs. He had eight. All eight went deep enough to produce touchbacks. According to NFL records, he is the first player with as many as eight kickoffs to have no kicks returned.

Prater had a 53-yard field goal in the final quarter and is now 14-for-18 in his career beyond 50 yards and 27-for-28 on fourth-quarter attempts. So far this season, Prater has is 7-of-7 field goals, 11-of-11 on extra points and has had touchbacks on 20 of 24 kickoffs.

Mutual admiration

Tom Brady and Peyton Manning have spoken about their mutual respect. Both related that it is not merely something they say. They spoke about how the other expressed support after injuries forced them to the sideline.

Manning told the Denver Post how Brady reached out to help him when neck problems did not allow him to play last season.

“He plays for another team and he reached out to me and said, ‘Hey, anything I can do to help the rehab, miss seeing you out there,’” Manning related. “When you’re injured, and you’re not out there playing, you kind of find out who’s with you and who’s not. Tom consistently throughout the season would check in with me. I appreciate that. It says a lot.”

Brady said he was returning the favor. In 2008, when Brady missed all but a few plays of the opening game because of knee surgery, Manning supported him.

“Yeah, he did. Certainly, it meant a lot to me,” Brady said. “We’ve known each other for a long time. My first start of my career, I met Peyton on the field before the game. He was out there warming up and I went over there and he said, ‘Hey, I’m Peyton Manning.’ I was like, ‘Of course. I know that.’ He’s a great guy. He’s been a really good friend over the years, certainly someone I can relate to. We do have a lot of things in common, so it’s nice when we’re going through some things, to bounce an idea or two off one another.”

Looking ahead

Brandon Bolden already has forgotten last week. Or at least he is trying to.

The rookie running back dismissed questions about his 137-yard game against Buffalo last Sunday and insisted he is only looking ahead.

“Blinders,” Bolden said when asked about how he is feeling. “I’m not worried about last week. Last week happened and now we’re getting ready for Denver. We have them coming up here, so just forget about it. It was a game. You’ve got to see that, say yippee. Everybody was happy. But it happened. It’s in the past and we’re moving on.

“It’s the NFL. You never know what can happen,” Bolden said. “Everybody has to be on point. I think that’s what our group is real good at … We try to help each other and learn all that.”

Injury report

Aaron Hernandez (ankle) and Rob Gronkowski (hip) returned to practice Thursday. For Hernandez, it was his first time on the field in more than two weeks. Both were limited in their participation.

Ras-I Dowling missed practice, reportedly to return home to Virginia because of a death in his family. Julian Edelman (hand) and Steve Gregory (hip) both remained out.

Those who were limited included Brady (right shoulder) and Bolden (knee). Brady was listed with the same shoulder issue. Others who were limited were Brandon Deaderick (ankle), Justin Francis (ankle), Dont’a Hightower (hamstring), Logan Mankins (hip and calf), Michael Hoomanuwanui (concussion), Nick McDonald (shoulder), Sterling Moore (knee), Shane Vereen (foot), Sebastian Vollmer (back). Kyle Love also was listed on the report as having a knee injury, but he had full participation.

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